


Living Phantom

by CrzyFun



Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Sam, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Sibling Abuse, Multi, Pansexual Character, Pansexual tucker, Queerplatonic Relationships, Trans Danny Fenton, Trans Male Character, tucker sam and danny in a qpr, vlad is danny's bio dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-09-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:27:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25023907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrzyFun/pseuds/CrzyFun
Summary: Danny Fenton was fourteen and at the tail end of his freshman year of high school when his parents finished their life's work, a portal to the world of ghosts. There was one thing they overlooked when activating the portal, however: An emergency measure within the portal meant to disable it. A measure that was accidentally turned on while they plugged the machine in. A measure that was accidentally turned off while Danny was looking around the inside of the portal at his friends' instance.A measure that caused Danny's death, but only for an instant.But an instant was all it took.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Danielle "Dani" Phantom, Danny Fenton & Jack Fenton & Maddie Fenton, Danny Fenton & Jazz Fenton, Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters, Danny Fenton/Valerie Gray
Comments: 57
Kudos: 116





	1. Pilot

In a small town in Minnesota, underneath a two-story home that was capped by a metal monstrosity, a trio of teenagers stood in a basement laboratory.

One, an African American boy with dark hair hidden under a red beret and green eyes peeking through glasses, was looking over some instruments scattered over the countertops. The second, a fair boy with black hair that fell over blue eyes and a flurry of freckles, was standing nervously near a tall metal tunnel with a hazmat suit in his hands. The last, a tanned girl with her sidecut hair dyed to match her purple contacts and amethyst fake nose stud, was holding up her phone.

“Smile!” Sam Manson said and took a picture as soon as Danny Fenton looked towards her.

The blue-eyed boy blinked the lights from his eyes. “Okay, I showed you the Portal. Can we get out of here now? My parents could be back here any minute.” He glanced at the tunnel with a frown and a shiver. “Besides, they say it doesn’t work anyway.”

Sam walked up to the tunnel’s entrance and snapped a picture of the inside.

Tucker Foley nudged Danny and he sent the dark-skinned boy a glare, but the boys followed her over.

“Come on, Danny,” Sam said, taking another picture. “A Ghost Zone? Aren’t you curious? You gotta check it out.”

Danny shivered again as he looked in. His parent’s inventions had always given him goosebumps -- a reaction to the ectoplasm they infused into the devices, his mom theorized, combined with a sensitivity he must have inherited from his father -- and the portal to the Ghost Zone was the worst of the lot. There was just something… foreboding about it.

It was hardly something he was going to tell his friends, though. Not if he didn’t want them teasing him for the next month. Besides, the faster he did this, the faster they’d get bored, and then they could go upstairs and watch movies like he’d told his parents they would.

There also might have been a small part of him that was honestly curious about the whole idea.

“You know what? You’re right. Who knows what kinds of things exist on the other side of that portal?” He smiled at his friends and stepped back to pull on the jumpsuit his parents had made for him.

“What are you doing?” Tucker asked.

“I’m going to put on the suit.”

“Dude, that thing is hideous.”

Sam snorted and grabbed the front of the suit, which had his dad’s face on the chest. “You can’t go walking around with that on your chest.”

Danny shrugged. “Mom and Dad say we have to wear them for protection.”

“It doesn’t even cover your head though,” Tucker pointed out. “How much protection does it really give? Just wear the gloves.”

 **_Suit_ **_yourself,_ Danny thought with a shrug and pulled the gloves off the suit to put them on. He turned to the tunnel and gave another shiver.

Suddenly something fell over his head.

He blinked and pulled it off to see it was Sam’s pleather jacket.

“You looked cold,” she said with a smirk.

He shot her a look and blushed. “I’m not wearing your jacket.”

“Relax. I got it off the men’s rack. The women’s jackets sit weird.”

Danny hesitated, then slipped it on. He did admittedly feel better, having something more substantial on over his shirt as he stepped into the tunnel. He cautiously stepped over wires and glanced over his shoulder at the others. As he got further in and the tunnel grew darker, his hand went to the wall so he could catch himself if he fell.

The wall sank under his hand and a beep sounded.

Before he could do anything, the world became a swirl of green and Danny felt like someone had set a fire inside him. There was a blazing inferno within his abdomen that was burning him alive from the inside out, moving outwards from a place just under his sternum in a pulse of agony that left a stinging cold in its wake. At the same time, there was a numbness rushing up his arm, his shoulder, his collar-chest-face. He could hear his pulse beating rapidly in his ears until it was swallowed up by the numbness and everything froze.

Danny’s gaze went white and he knew he was dying -- was dead -- could feel himself slipping away.

Then the fire flowed through his chest and an almighty thump sounded from the frostbitten wasteland it left behind. His body jerked once, twice, then the thump sounded again and continued sounding.

The numbness gave way as stinging zaps settled over his body -- through his skin -- filling it and keeping the blaze inside like an electric fence.

Later he would think back on the accident and realize those events must have happened in less than a second. The portal turned on and the flow of electricity killed him before the ectoplasmic energy restarted his heart like a defibrillator. At the time, however, it felt torturously slow, which was reflected in the harsh wail he let out as soon as his consciousness snapped back into his body and the pain hit him once more.

He wailed and wailed as the lightning settled in his skin as a gentle buzz, the fires curled up into a warm glow, and the frozen wasteland within became a chilling void. Slowly the world returned to him and his wail died out. He gave one last gasp, then nothing.

He opened his eyes and looked down, surprised to see he was still standing. He raised his hands and his once bright orange gloves were now dark grey.

The gloves disappeared, then so did his flesh, then his bones, then there was nothing before his gloves snapped back into view.

He looked up and everything was swirling green, but there was a darkness behind him and he staggered towards it, slumping against a metal wall before falling out of the mists and onto a concrete floor.

* * *

Sam felt her heart stop as her best friend disappeared behind a flash of green, the only sign he was still there being the awful scream coming from the portal.

“Turn it off,” she whispered. She grabbed Tucker’s arm and shook him. “TURN IT OFF!”

“I-I don’t know how,” Tucker whimpered, not taking his eyes off the portal. “Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man. Oh, man! Oh, man! Oh, man!”

“TUCKER!”

“SAM!”

The screaming stopped and Sam froze.

Tucker sucked in a breath.

There was a moment of silence, then something tumbled out of the portal.

Tucker shrieked and leaped away, but Sam just stared.

The thing -- person -- slowly got onto hands and knees. Its skin was grey which contrasted with its bright white hair. It wore dark grey jeans and black hightops as well as a black hooded shirt underneath a white jacket.

A familiar white jacket, though the color was new.

“D-Danny?” she asked, taking half a step towards the person.

The glowing person. The glowing person with pointed ears. The glowing person who, when they looked up, had eyes and freckles that shined the same bright green as the portal behind them.

“Sssammm,” they slurred, blinking sluggishly.

“Danny!” Tucker gasped and Sam took another few steps towards him.

“Are-are you okay?” she asked hesitantly.

“Okay? OKAY?” Tucker muttered in a high voice. “He’s glowing! He’s… What if he’s… Oh man, is he a ghost? Did we just kill Danny? Oh, man!”

“Ghost?” Danny sat up slowly and looked down at himself. His eyes -- glowing, glowing green like the portal, eyes shouldn’t glow like that! -- widened as he took himself in. “I’m a-I’m a ghost?”

“We killed Danny!”

“Danny?” Sam whispered, taking another step towards him. She reached out to grab him. She had to grab him. Because if she could grab him, that would mean he was there. He couldn’t be just some apparition, right? You couldn’t touch ghosts, right?

“I can’t be a ghost. No, no, no, no, no -”

“Danny’s dead! Oh man, Danny’s dead! Danny’s -”

“- no, no, no, no no, no, no, no no, no, no, no no, no, no, no -”

“- dead! Danny’s dead! We killed him! He’s dead! Danny’s -”

“SHUT UP, TUCKER!”

Danny flinched back from Sam, falling backward.

Sam grabbed him and pulled him towards her because he was falling TOWARDS THE PORTAL! The portal that had just KILLED HIM!

Except no, it didn’t. It can’t have killed him. Danny can’t have died. Oh please, please, please! Don’t be dead.

“S-Sam?” he whispered, staring up at her. This close she could see that his freckles twinkled like stars and his canines were just the slightest bit too long, too sharp.

Her hand was wrapped around his arm. She had touched him. He couldn’t be a ghost.

Her hand slipped _through_ his arm as he collapsed back on the ground.

No!

Tears filled her eyes and she dropped to the ground. She threw her arms around his shoulders and buried her face into his neck.

His skin was solid, but it sent a tingle through her like a static shock. He also felt warm, but at the same time, her face was cold where it was pressed into his skin.

“Danny’s dead,” Tucker said, quieter than he’d been before.

“I’m dead,” Danny mumbled.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Sam sobbed. “I should never have made you go in there. I’m sorry.”

“I can’t be dead. I can’t be a ghost. My parents… Oh man, my parents!” Danny shouted suddenly. “They’re going to kill me!”

Sam fell to the floor as Danny’s body disappeared from under her. She rolled over to see him floating just above her, shaking.

“Danny’s dead. You can’t kill someone who’s dead,” Tucker muttered, eyes unfocused and staring at nothing.

“My parents hunt ghosts. I can’t be a ghost. They’ll trap me. Kill me. I can-can’t be a ghost.” His eyes closed and he grabbed at his hair, hunching over in midair. “I can’t be a ghost. I can’t be a ghost. I can’t be a ghost.”

“Danny, we’re home! You kids in your room?” came Mrs. Fenton’s voice from upstairs.

“Can’t be. Can’t be. Can’t be.”

“We gotta get him out of here,” Sam hissed, climbing to her feet.

“Kids?”

“Can’t be. Can’t be. Can’t be.”

“How?” Tucker whispered back.

“Danny?” Mr. Fenton called.

“Can’t be. Can-”

A white light appeared at Danny’s waist, growing outward into a ring of light.

Like a halo, Sam thought and briefly wondered if humans could turn into angels when they died.

If anyone could, it would be Danny.

Then the ring split into two, one going up him and the other going down.

Danny collapsed to the ground at Sam’s feet, looking exactly as he had when he’d first gone into the portal.

No, not exactly, because there was also the Lichtenberg figure burn going up the side of his neck and face.

There was half a second where all three teens just stared at each other, then Danny gave a loud yelp and rolled onto his right side, clutching his left arm.

“Danny!” his parents shouted and came running down the stairs.

“What happened?” Mrs. Fenton asked, dropping down next to her son.

“Th-the portal…” Tucker stuttered, glancing between Sam, Danny, and the device.

“The portal? The portal!” Mr. Fenton cheered when he looked at the portal and saw it running. “Maddie, it’s working!”

“Jack,” Maddie snapped before turning back to Danny and carefully checking his face. “These look like electrical burns. What happened?”

“He-he was showing us the portal and it-it turned on,” Sam said, her own eyes never leaving Danny. “Is he okay?”

Of course not, he’s a ghost.

But he’s not glowing anymore.

Mrs. Fenton set one hand on his neck and the other on his chest, trying to get him to sit still. “Danny honey, I need you to calm down, please. Jack, get the first aid kit.”

“Right.”

As Mr. Fenton ran off to the side of the lab, Mrs. Fenton looked over Danny’s face. “Danny, please, deep breaths. Can you tell me what happened?”

“Sh-sh-shock, I th-think,” he panted, sitting up slowly. “Was looking at the portal.”

“You must have bumped a wire. You know you need to be more careful around our inventions.”

“Was wearing gloves.”

“That’s good, but it’s not always enough.”

“Sorry.”

Mr. Fanton returned with a white toolbox with a red plus drawn on the side and Mrs. Fenton helped Danny carefully pull off first his gloves, then his jacket, and finally his shirt.

Tucker spun around when the last piece started to come off, but Sam couldn’t pull her gaze away even at the sight of the binder hidden underneath.

The Lichtenberg figures trailed down onto his collar bone, around his chest, across his left arm, and ended -- started -- on his palm.

Mrs. Fenton took out a stethoscope and started checking his chest. “Your breathing and heartbeat are a little fast, but nothing more than what you’d get from a scare,” she sighed finally.

He nodded and shared a relieved look with Sam.

Mrs. Fenton looked up at her as well. “Did he pass out? Any spasms?”

She shook her head, trying not to think about how he’d been grey and glowing only moments earlier.

He was alive. Mrs. Fenton said he had a pulse.

The scientist turned back to Danny. “Any muscle pain or numbness? Nausea?”

“No, it just stings.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m okay then?” Danny asked hesitantly.

“Hopefully. We’ll need to keep an eye on you. Electrical shocks are not to be taken lightly.”

He nodded quickly. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Mrs. Fenton rubbed his unhurt shoulder for a moment, then tapped the binder. “You’re going to have to take this off so we can clean your burns.”

Sam finally looked away, a small blush on her cheeks. That put Mr. Fenton in her sights, who glanced at her with a frown.

“Maybe you two should head home,” he said seriously.

Mrs. Fenton agreed, “Danny’s going to need to rest after we get him cleaned up, and then we’re going to have a long discussion about the lab safety rules.”

“I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Danny called as Mr. Fenton led Tucker and her to the stairs and they both said their goodbyes before heading up.

They paused once they were alone in the living room.

“I’m not crazy, right?” Tucker whispered. “Danny was… For a moment there, Danny was…”

“You’re definitely crazy, but yeah. Danny looked… like a ghost.”

They shared horrified looks.

“But he’s fine now. Mrs. Fenton even said so.”

“Yeah. Yeah. He has to be. We’ll… Let’s talk about this tomorrow. With Danny.”

Tucker nodded and they left.

They didn’t get to talk to Danny that next day. Danny’s sister, Jazz, met them before school to tell them Danny was staying home so their parents could keep an eye on him, just in case. He was also grounded so they gathered his missed schoolwork and gave it to Jazz to take home. As it was Friday, they didn’t get to see Danny again until the following week.

Thanks to a lucky break (and maybe a bit of secret bribery on Sam’s part) the three’s lockers were all next to each other, which meant that’s where Tucker and Sam were waiting when Danny met them Monday morning. He was pale, even for him, which made the soft pink scars curling up the side of his face stick out a little more. They’d clearly healed enough not to need covering, but Sam noticed his left hand was wrapped in bandages when he grabbed her and Tucker to pull them along.

“Woah, Fenturd, what happened to your face?” Dash Baxter jeered as they passed.

“He looks like he’s got a bush growing inside his face,” Kwan Yu laughed along.

“Loser probably got it in his parents’ freaky lab,” Valerie Gray added. “It looks like a weird burn.”

“Hideous is what it looks like,” Paulina Sanchez scoffed.

Danny blushed and ducked his head, but otherwise ignored the group of popular kids as he pulled his friends into an alcove. “It happened again.”

“You… turned into a ghost?” Sam asked and he nodded.

“Dude, what’d your parents say?” Tucker asked.

“Nothing. They don’t know. It didn’t happen in front of them and I couldn’t tell them. I don’t even know what I’d tell them.”

Without thinking, Sam’s hand rose to his neck. She blushed, but didn’t pull away until she felt the telltale beating beneath her fingers. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’ve been doing the same thing,” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s always been there when I check, except…”

“When you’re a ghost?” Tucker suggested and Danny flinched.

Sam smacked the back of the geek’s head.

“It’s not just the transforming either. I… sometimes I…” Danny bit his lip then closed his eyes. His face scrunched up, then his body turned transparent. He opened his eyes again as he started sinking into the ground.

All three of them gasped. Tucker and Sam tried to grab him, but their hands went right through him. Danny made an aborted movement, like he was trying to jump, and he shot into the air. He hovered a foot off the ground for a moment before his body turned opaque once more and he dropped like a rock. Sam grabbed him when he stumbled over the landing and he gave her a grateful smile.

“I’m guessing that’s not what you were talking about,” Sam said as he righted himself.

“It was, kind of, but I was trying to turn invisible.”

“Wait,” Tucker said, a smile slipping onto his face. “You can turn invisible. And just now, that was intangibility. Dude, you’ve got superpowers!”

Sam shushed him and glanced out of the alcove, but no one was paying them any attention. When she turned back to the boys, Tucker was bouncing slightly.

“And you can transform into a ghost at will. It’s like you’re part ghost. Half ghost! That’s so cool!”

“It’s not cool, it’s freaky,” Danny argued. “And it’s not at will. I don’t know how I’m doing it. What if someone sees?”

“Well, we’ll just have to help you figure out how not to do it,” Sam said simply.

Although, it sounded anything but simple. How on earth do ghost powers even work? How do humans even get ghost powers?

Apparently by getting blasted by a ghost portal.

But Danny wasn't dead and it wasn’t her fault. She could help him. She had to. Please, just let his heart keep beating.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is going to be a bit of a different reworking to canon because I'm going to be mixing up the order of events for a variety of reasons. Episodes will be out of order and their events might be changed anywhere from subtly to drastically. In case you didn't read the tags, there's been a change to a certain someone's relationship to someone else. This is more a passion project than anything. It's headcanons, theories, and plot concepts getting merged together. If that's not your cup of tea, I get it. I hope you liked the pilot at least!


	2. Mystery Meat: Takoyaki

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S01-E01, part 1 of 3: Danny just wants to get a handle on his powers, he didn't ask to get caught up in another one of his friends' dietary fights.

Danny glared down at his hands. _Come on… Come on…_

They flickered invisible for a second.

“Yes!”

Tucker looked up from his phone. “What?”

“I did it!”

“Barely,” Sam snorted. “If I’d blinked, I would have missed it.”

“But I didn’t turn intangible! It’s progress.”

“It’s sad.”

“There has to be a better way to do this,” Tucker said, tapping away at his phone once more.

“Don’t look at me. I checked all my old occult books from my witch phase, but none of them talk about anything like ghost powers.”

Both boys shivered and Danny asked, “You kept those?”

“The aesthetic, Danny.”

“They looked like something from a horror movie,” Tucker pointed out.

“Exactly.”

“I still swear one of them gave me hives,” Danny muttered and Sam rolled her eyes.

The boy has one minor allergic reaction after handling her book on protection against evil spirits and suddenly it’s the book’s fault. “And I still swear it was that bush Dash pushed you into.”

“Dash has shoved me into those bushes plenty of times and I’ve never broken out like that!”

“You probably just -“

“What about your parents?” Tucker cut in before he had to relive March of seventh grade. “There’s got to be something in their research about how ghosts control their powers.”

“I don’t know. They’ve never even studied a real ghost so anything they might have would just be theoretical.”

“Theory’s better than nothing,” Tucker pointed out.

“Theory based on nothing is useless,” Sam snorted.

“Couldn’t hurt to try.”

Danny nodded and the trio headed out of his room. “At least I can usually transform on cue now.”

“Yeah, thanks to your goofy catchphrase,” Tucker snickered.

“It helps me focus!”

“Sure, Danny,” Sam said, patting him on the back with a smirk.

“I hate you both.” When they reached the first floor, Danny called out, “Mom? Dad?”

“Your mom went to the store,” Mr. Fenton said, poking his head out of the kitchen. “What’d you need?”

“Well, uh, we had a question about ghosts. We wanted to kn-”

“Ghosts!” Mr. Fenton cheered. “I’d be happy to tell you everything I know!”

Before the three could react, Mr. Fenton swooped in and wrapped one arm around Danny and Tucker and the other around Sam before forcibly leading them down to the lab. He grabbed a trio of chairs from the closet and pushed them into them.

“So, Danny, you and your little friends want to hunt ghosts?”

The three shared a look.

“Uh, actually, Dad? I want to be an astronaut.”

“Sorry, Mr. Fenton. You can only play with a spirit board so many times before it gets boring.”

“Waste these looks and all this charisma hunting ghosts? Criminal.”

"Well, if you do want to hunt ghosts,” Mr. Fenton said, unperturbed as he turned away, “there are a few things you need to learn.”

Danny rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to try to get his dad back on track, but froze as his breath misted in front of him. It had happened twice before, and each time had preceded…

“Oh no. This isn't good.”

The doors to the ghost portal opened and a pair of blobby ghosts that looked vaguely like octopuses flew out of the swirling mists. When one grabbed Tucker and Sam, Danny glanced at his dad. The man was thankfully distracted with whatever lecture he was settling into so Danny leaped at the ghosts.

“I’m going ghost,” he whispered and a ring sprung into being around him, splitting to transform him. He rushed the ghosts and knocked aside the second ghost before tackling the one holding his friends. The two fell back into their chairs as Danny pinned it.

“Sam, Tucker,” they flinched as Mr. Fenton popped up in front of them and handed a thermos to Sam, “this is the Fenton Thermos. It's supposed to trap ghosts…”

They ignored the man as he went back to his lab space and turned to watch as the second ghost launched itself at Danny. Their friend saw it coming though and stood up. He grabbed the legs of the one he had pinned and spun around to use it to hit the other.

The ghost was knocked towards the portal and Danny threw the other at it. The two gave whines then flew into the portal, which closed behind them.

Danny glared at the doors as he transformed back then looked to his dad. His eyes widened as he noticed the man turning towards him and he jumped back over to the chairs.

“And that? That is the Fenton Portal,” Mr. Fenton said, walking up to the portal. “It releases ghosts into our world whether I want it to or not. And someday, I'll figure out how that works too.” He knocked against the rim and turned to the teens. “Now, who wants to hunt some ghosts?”

Sam and Tucker shook while Danny leaned against Tucker’s chair, doubled over and panting.

“You kids, look at you! You're too excited to speak! So I'll just go on speaking. I was born many years ago in a log cabin in the woods. Don't exactly remember where, but I do remember I wanted a pony…”

As Mr. Fenton continued, Sam and Tucker glanced at Danny. He ran a hand over his face then looked back up to see his dad facing away.

“Let’s just go. I don’t think we’re going to get anything from him,” he whispered.

They nodded eagerly and the teens fled upstairs.

“Well that was terrifying,” Tucker said.

“And useless,” Sam snorted. “What a surprise?”

“Parents suck, we get it.”

Sam shoved Tucker then patted Danny on the back. “At least you managed to stay transformed this time.”

“Progress!” he chuckled and pumped his fist.

The first few bars of Final Rest by Her Despair sounded and Sam pulled her phone out. “Oh! I almost forgot! I’ve got to go!”

As Sam ran up the stairs, Danny and Tucker chased after her with the former calling, “Where are you going?”

“Meeting, long story, explain later,” Sam said. She grabbed her backpack from Danny’s room then rushed past them back downstairs. “See you guys tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

“See you.”

The two boys shared a look as the front door opened, then closed.

“So, are you going to practice some more or do you want to play video games?”

“Doomed?”

“Doomed!”

* * *

“Hey, Danny,” Sam called, surprised to see him coming from the parking lot.

“Hey, Sam.” He came over and waited for her to finish locking up her scooter so they could head into school together.

“What are you doing here so soon?”

“Jazz drove me. She got a new psychology book yesterday so she’s having another one of her episodes. It’s focused on my parents this time. Apparently, they’ve got an _insane obsession with ghosts_ and I’m an _abused, unwanted wretch._ ”

“She’s not wrong.”

Danny knocked their shoulders together. “It’s not insane. I think we’ve got some pretty good evidence that ghosts are real. And I’m not abused. You’re just biased.”

She knocked back. “Your parents are obsessed though and you have to admit, they’re not the most attentive parents.”

Danny opened the door and they both went in. “Stop shoving your parent issues on me. They might get distracted by work, but you know they’re always there if Jazz or I need them.” He scowled and fiddled with the straps of his backpack. “Well, as long as it’s not Christmas.”

“Christmas?” she asked curiously.

He shook his head. “What’d your parents do this time?”

Sam eyed him, but let it go. “My mom tossed out my contacts. Thankfully Bubbe still had my backups. I swear, one day I’m going to wake up to my mother standing over my bed with a box of hair bleach. And my dad! Don’t even get me started on him!”

“Sam’s parents ruining her life again?” Tucker yawned as he joined them.

“Constantly,” Sam hissed.

“You're always welcome to keep your contacts at my house,” Danny offered.

“It’s fine. I found a better hiding spot for when the replacements arrive.” She gave him a smirk. “You know, I could get you some too. You look wicked with toxic green.”

“Pass,” Danny groaned. “I want my eyes to be blue more often, not less.”

“You had another accident.” Tucker didn't bother phrasing it as a question.

“In front of my parents this time. I’m lucky they were too distracted by their new invention to notice.”

He shot Sam a glare when she hummed and she held up her hands in surrender.

Danny sighed and bit his lip. “I think I should tell them.”

“Why? Parents don't listen,” Sam said, stopping their trek up the stairs. “Even worse, they don't understand! WHY CAN'T THEY ACCEPT ME FOR WHO I AM?”

“Sam, I'm talking about my powers, my problems?”

Sam blushed and gave him an apologetic look. “Oh, right. Me too.”

Danny shook his head. “It's been a month since the accident and I still have barely any control. If somebody catches me, I go from geek to freak around here.”

When he started to shrink, Tucker and Sam looked down to see Danny’s legs had gone intangible and were sinking through the floor.

“Kinda like what you're doing right now?” Tucker pointed out.

Danny yelped, but the two easily pulled him back up by his arms, holding the smaller boy up until his legs returned to normal.

He growled and marched off. “Darn it! If my parents can invent something that accidentally made me half-ghost, why can't they invent something that turns me back to normal?”

Sam and Tucker flinched as Danny turned transparent and glanced around to be sure no one was watching. Thankfully they were alone and Danny didn’t sink through the floor, though he did walk through a vending machine.

“Danny, your powers make you unique. Unique is good! That's why I'm a whole-food, plant-based vegan.”

Danny closed his eyes and whispered, “Please, no.”

“Sam, meat is _essential._ It reduces the appetite and increases your metabolism. That’s why my all-meat streak is fourteen years strong!”

“One month. Can we go one month?” he groaned burying his face in his hands. Unknown to the three, Danny turned invisible.

“And it's about to end. The school board finally agreed to try a new cafeteria menu. I wore them down,” Sam said with pride.

“Wait… What did you do?”

The bell rang and Sam turned to leave for Art History. “You’ll have to wait to see for yourself.”

“Sam? Sam! What did you do?” Tucker spun towards his other friend, and frowned when no one was there. “Danny?”

“Here.” The pale boy reappeared. “Do you guys have to do that?”

“She’s _vegan,_ Danny. I have to stand up for my fellow carnivores!”

“Let’s just go before we’re late.”

* * *

“I’m dead. I died in your accident and have gone to the Bad Place. That’s the only explanation.”

Danny ignored Tucker’s muttering as he dragged his friend to the lunch line. _I’d say this is killing me, but it’s too late for that._

Above their head was a banner reading _Vegan Week!_

“Danny. Danny, what am I going to do! I’m going to starve to death!”

“For the love of -- Dude, you eat french fries and drink milkshakes. No matter what you say, you’re not a total carnivore. It won’t kill you to eat whatever they’ve got until you get home and can gorge yourself on steak.”

“I eat fries alongside _hamburgers!_ I need meat!”

Danny glared at him, then at Sam as she slipped up next to them. “Why are you both like this?”

Tucker spun to face Sam and grabbed her shoulders. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?”

“Tucker, it's time for a change.”

“You’re trying to kill me! I can’t survive a week of this!”

“Just bring lunch from home tomorrow,” Danny sighed, grabbing a veggie burger and adding it to his tray then doing the same for Tucker when his friend just continued his complaining.

“Don’t you see, she’s trying to do us in, Danny. First you, now me.”

Danny elbowed him in the side then grabbed a pack of apple slices and a salad before leaving his friends so he could check out.

He was sitting by the time they caught up and Tucker immediately grabbed his arm. “Dude, you have to use your powers to sneak out and get me something I can actually eat!”

Danny shoved him off, then shot a look at Sam when she smiled smugly at them. “Don't you think this is a little extreme, Sam?”

She didn’t have a chance to reply before Mr. Lancer, their vice-principal and frequent substitute teacher, came up behind her. He set his hand on her shoulder with a smile and said, “Ah, Miss Manson. The school board wanted me to personally thank you for ushering in this welcome experiment to our cafeteria.”

Tucker sat up straight. “I smell barbecue!” He sniffed the air like a dog, leaning over the table and giving Lancer a look.

The man shuffled back nervously. “No, no. I assure you the teachers are eating the same thing as you students.” He patted Sam’s shoulder and left. “Thanks again.”

“Yeah, thanks again for making us eat garbage, Sam.”

Danny grabbed his tray and stood up. Maybe Jazz would let him hide out with her and her AP buddies until the week was over and he could have a few weeks break before the argument showed its ugly face again.

His breath misted in front of him as he sensed a ghost and he nearly screamed.

He set his tray back on the table and leaned down. “Uh, guys? I've got a problem.”

“FENTON!”

“Make that two problems,” he groaned.

He turned to see a large blond boy stomping towards him. Dash Baxter -- quarterback of the junior varsity football team, goalie and captain for the junior varsity lacrosse team, popular kid, and all-around school bully -- glared down at Danny as he held up a tray with a thick soup dish.

“I’m supposed to be bulking up! How am I supposed to do that when your girlfriend has us eating like cows?”

_Why can’t you go **bully**_ _someone else?_ “She's not my girlfriend!”

“I’m not his girlfriend! And there are plenty of protein-rich substitutions for -”

Dash shoved Danny against the table. “You better fix this or you’re going to be wearing this slop!”

“I-I-”

A glowing figure flew past the opening to the cafeteria kitchen.

Danny reached up and dumped Dash’s -- thankfully only warm -- soup on them both _accidentally._ “Whoops! I need to go get cleaned up!”

“FENTURD!”

He ran out of the cafeteria, dragging Sam and Tucker along with him. He led them to the kitchen door, saying, “He’s going to kill me later.”


	3. Mystery Meat: Hamburger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S01-E01, part 2 of 3: Danny’s finally getting the hang of his ghost powers... maybe.

“You okay?” Sam asked as she and her best friends came into the hall outside the cafeteria.

“He’s fine, no thanks to you,” Tucker said.

Danny ignored them as he peeked through the kitchen door to see an elderly woman floating inside. She was green-skinned and glowing, but otherwise looked like the typical cafeteria worker.

Tucker poked his head in as well and said, “Shouldn't be so bad. She looks a little like my grandmother.”

Danny stepped inside. “Shouldn't she be haunting a bingo hall?”

The woman turned to them and floated closer. In a sweet voice, she asked, “Hello, children. Can you help me? Today's lunch is meatloaf, but I don't see the meatloaf. Did someone change the menu?”

Tucker came in and pointed back at Sam as she followed. “Yeah. She did.”

The ghost suddenly doubled in size, her hair becoming white flames as green ones began to rise from her body. “YOU CHANGED THE MENU? THE MENU HAS BEEN THE SAME FOR FIFTY YEARS!”

_ Well, it's about  _ **_thyme_ ** _ then, _ Danny thought as he spread his arms to protect his friends. “Get behind me!”

“Wow. I feel safe,” Sam deadpanned.

“I'm going ghost!” He raised his hands and the rings washed over him. He flew up to the ghost, only to hesitate when he got there.

What was he actually supposed to do? It’s not like he could just toss her back through the portal when it was halfway across town.

“I command you to… go away!”

She didn’t seem impressed by his _very threatening_ order and sent piles of dishes at him.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus. He heard something shatter behind him and turned to look. He smiled as he saw the plates had all flown through him.

_ Progress! _

He turned back to see another group of plates flying at Sam and dove down to intercept them. Almost unconsciously, he let go of the density in his legs, allowing the ectoplasm to merge into a wispy tail that propelled him forward. He placed himself in front of Sam and caught the plates, letting his energy flow over them to keep them piled on his arms in near-impossible stacks. He then did the same for Tucker when a third wave of plates shot towards him.

He set them all down on a counter and looked over the neat stacks with pride. Then deflated as he realized what, exactly, he was proud of. “Well, if this superhero thing doesn't work out, I can have an exciting career as a busboy.”

“I control lunch!” the ghost lunch lady snarled and Danny turned back to her to see the ranges lit with green flames and bouncing around behind her. “Lunch is sacred! Lunch has rules!” Suddenly she was small and soft again. She reached into her apron and pulled out a plate with a slice of transparent cake on it.

Danny was kind of creeped out, but also intrigued. Was it part of her powers? Did she just manifest food or was it some sort of pocket dimension, like hammerspace? More importantly, could he do that?

“Anybody want cake?”

Was it ghost cake? Would it taste like normal cake? Could humans safely eat ghost cake?

Sam and Tucker nodded.

The ghost tossed the cake to the side and grew big again.

Oh right, they were fighting.

“Too bad! Children who change my menu do not get dessert!”

The ghost flew off and the oven doors opened to spew fire. Danny arced his body around the flames, only to turn to see the ranges flying towards his friends. He dove towards them, coming up from behind to grab their shoulders. He let his energy flow into Sam and Tucker like he’d done the plates then focused.

A tingling sensation went through him, then down his connection to his friends.

He jerked backward and the three flew threw the wall. Losing intangibility once they were out, they rolled across the ground until they hit the lockers on the other side of the hall.

Tucker and Sam groaned, but Danny immediately hopped to his feet with a cheer. “It worked! Finally some real progress!”

“Congrats,” Tucker said half-heartedly.

“This is the thanks I get for thinking like an individual?” Sam hissed, pulling herself up.

_ No need to get  _ **_fired_ ** _ up, _ Danny barely managed to keep himself from saying as he helped Tucker to his feet.

His ghost form  _ really _ needed to learn to keep its mouth shut. He’d spent years carefully staying neutral on the stupid debate and he wasn’t about to let his loose ghost mouth ruin everything. If either of them thought he’d chosen their side, they’d both become unbearable.

“Do you smell that?” Tucker asked. “It smells like… steak! Chicken! Barbecue!”

“You’re delusional,” Sam snorted.

Danny forced himself to breathe in order to scent the air. “I think I smell it too.”

An ominous wind blew past them and the three turned to the origin to see various meat products flying towards them. They braced themselves, but the food flew right past. They turned to see the ghost standing at the end of the hall, the meat swirling around her before attaching to her. Her energy seemed to grind up the meat as it did so, leaving her looking like a vaguely human-shaped hamburger mountain with glowing green eyes.

“Ew,” Danny and Sam said together, then Danny flinched.

_ Please don’t take that the wrong way, _ he thought, looking to his friends. Thankfully Sam was too busy being disgusted while Tucker was looking back the other way.

“But where did it come from?” He scowled. “Lancer!”

“Focus, Tuck.”

“Prepare to learn why meat is the most powerful of the five food groups!” the ghost shrieked before tilting her head. She held up a cookie and Danny really didn’t want to know where she got it. “Cookie?”

Sam shook her head, looking nauseated.

The ghost almost looked shocked before her voice became thunderous again. “Then perish!”

“Anything for you, Mr. Obama,” Danny muttered before he could help himself, and both his friends glared at him.

_ Fair. Stupid ghost mouth. Go away! _

There was a flash of light and he looked down to see he was human once more. “Whoops! That wasn't what I meant.”

The ghost swatted him into Tucker then grabbed Sam and flew off.

“Come on! Change back! We gotta go!” Tucker said, dragging Danny to his feet.

“You two aren't going anywhere.”

They turned to see Mr. Lancer marching up with a stern look.

“Mr. Lancer?”

“Are you two responsible for the theft of the staff’s lunch?”

Their eyes widened and they quickly shook their heads.

“Then what are you doing out here?”

Danny gestured down at his clothes, which were still covered in soup, alongside meat juice from the ghost. “I accidentally knocked Dash’s tray over and spilled his food all over us both.”

“We were going to get him cleaned off,” Tucker agreed.

“Really?” The vice-principal asked, unconvinced.

“Yes.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Ask Dash. I’m sure he’ll be happy to complain about me.”

He stared them down then turned. “Follow me.”

They shared a worried look, but did so.

Mr. Lancer had them come into his office and sit in chairs in front of his desk. He pulled their files up on his computer. “Tucker Foley: Chronic tardiness, talking in class, repeated punishments for having a phone out in class. Danny Fenton: Thirty-four dropped beakers in the last month, banned for life from handling all fragile school property, but no severe mischief before today. So, gentlemen, tell me…” He stood. “WHY DID THE TWO OF YOU CONSPIRE TO STEAL ALL THE MEAT FROM THE STAFF LOUNGE?”

Danny scowled. “We didn’t, I swear! Ask Dash!”

“Oh I will, and if I find you’re lying -”

“We’re not.”

Mr. Lancer glared them down then walked to the door. “Stay here. I’ll be right back. Do not touch anything.”

They both nodded and the moment he was out the door, Danny slipped behind his desk.

“I  _ knew _ he was hiding meat,” Tucker growled.

“Not the time,” Danny said, opening the security program.

“Yeah, I know. We gotta find Sam. For some reason, I feel like I got her kidnapped.”

“Maybe because you told the ghost she changed the menu? How about that?” Danny muttered, clicking through the cameras. He stopped at the basement camera near the cold room and gestured Tucker over. “Check it out. Meat trail.”

Footsteps sounded from down the hall and Tucker ran over to his seat as Danny closed the window. He leaped through the desk, landing in his chair just as the door opened and Mr. Lancer entered with Dash.

“Gentlemen, it’s your lucky day. You're free to go. However,” he held up a hand before they could run out and pointed at Danny, “you owe Mr. Baxter an apology for ruining his lunch and clothes.”

“Yeah, Fenton.”

_ I’m  _ **_soup_ ** _ -rised Dash even knows what an apology is. _ “I’m sorry. Won’t happen again.”

Mr. Lancer nodded. “Go.”

Danny and Tucker ran out of the office and into the nearest bathroom.

* * *

Sam glared at the ghost as she lectured on and on about  _ balanced diets _ and  _ healthy schoolchildren. _

“The food pyramid has been debunked,” Sam snapped.

“It is a staple.”

“It’s obsolete. Vegetarian and Vegan diets are healthier and better for the envi-”

The ghost cut her off with a laugh. “My dear child, meat is good for kids! It helps them grow and makes them smile! Why won't you eat it?”

Disgusted, Sam pulled her face away when the ghost tried to feed her. “We don't need meat. That's fact!”

The ghost grew to her scarier form. “SILENCE! You need discipline, manners, respect! You know where that comes from? MEAT!” She shrunk once more and held up a chicken leg and whole fish. “Chicken? Or fish?”

“Tofu stir fry.”

“Insufferable child!” The ghost threw down the food she was holding, then was body-slammed away.

Sam smiled as she looked over her shoulder to see Danny facing off against the ghost. The smile fell when she turned back around to see Tucker using a fork and knife to cut one of the steaks from the pile of meat keeping her pinned to the ground.

“I'll have you free in no time, Sam!”

“You've gotta be kidding me. Can’t you think of anything but your stomach for once?”

“Hey! In case you’re forgetting,  _ your stomach _ is what got us into this in the first place!” Tucker said, pointing at her with his fork.

“My stomach! You were the one that complained to the ghost!”

Tucker ignored her, bringing the fork to his mouth to take a bite.

The bite flew off his fork and into the air, alongside the rest of the meat.

They turned to see the ghost transforming into a meat monster again, this time twice as large thanks to all the meat in the cool room. She grabbed Danny and Tucker held up his silverware.

“Help's on the way, buddy!”

Sam grabbed him and yanked him back as the ghost threw Danny and turned to them.

“Run?”

“Run.”

They ran for the exit, but the ghost shot a mound of meat past them to block the door. They tried to run the other direction, but the ghost was right at their heels. She raised her arms to crush them, but Danny darted in at the last minute.

He grabbed them both around their waist and Sam felt the cold, staticky feeling of his energy passing through them. Then they were flying through the wall of the cool room, up out of the basement, and into the schoolyard.

Sam smiled up at her friend, then frowned at the weary look on his face. “Gee, Danny. Fighting meat monsters, flying through walls; you must be exhausted.”

“What? Of course not! What would give… you… that idea?”

The three fell to the ground as Danny passed out.

Tucker and Sam shared a look.

“What do we do now?”

Sam checked the time on her watch. “We’ve got fifteen minutes until lunch is over. Let’s just drag him over to a table and hope we can wake him for class.”

Tucker nodded and grabbed the half-ghost’s feet while she grabbed him by the armpits. Thankfully their friend had always been small and light and having nearly half his mass replaced with ectoplasm only made him lighter so they were able to easily carry him to one of the lunch tables and lay him down on a bench.

Tucker dropped onto the other bench and laid his head on the table. “I didn’t get to eat  _ anything. _ ”

Sam shoved him off the bench and sat down.

He didn’t bother getting up, choosing to just lay on the floor glaring at her until the bell rang.

Danny was clearly exhausted when they woke him, but managed to get to his feet and stumble into the school with Sam’s help. They thanked the stars that their fifth period PE was health class that day and grabbed their books. They were all together for the last two periods of the day so they were able to keep an eye on Danny, jabbing him in the side whenever he started to nod off. When they got out, Tucker took his bag as Sam took most of his weight. Even then, they ended up having to carry Danny the last block to his house.

When Sam got the door open, she prepared herself for any questions the Fentons might ask.

She paused.

There was smoke in the air and Mr. and Mrs. Fenton were lying on the ground in front of the door, staring into the family room where Jazz was trying to pull her hair out of a vacuum cleaner that had Fenton Works decals on it.

A typical day in the Fenton household.

Sam adjusted her grip on Danny’s legs then they headed inside.

“Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Fenton! What a school day! Poor Danny nodded off,” Tucker said as they passed Danny’s parents and started up the stairs. “We figured we'd just carry him all the way home and tuck him into bed without any parental interaction whatsoever.”

“Don't get up! We know where to go. Bye!”

They sighed with relief as they made it to Danny’s room and dropped him on his bed.

“So what now? Homework?”

Sam started to nod, then she glanced at Danny. “Actually, I should probably loosen his binder first. We don’t know how long he’ll be sleeping.”

Tucker nodded and slipped out the door. "I'll grab snacks then."


	4. Mystery Meat: Polpette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S01-E01, part 3 of 3: Some Fenton family bonding, and Danny puts an end to the fighting.

_Veeeeeegiieeeessss!_

_Meeeeeeaaaaaat!_

_Cookie?_

Danny shot upwards with a scream, looking around for the ghost. He found himself in his room. “Wha-what's going on?”

Tucker and Sam were at his side in an instant.

“You passed out. We took you home. You've been asleep for four days!”

“Four days?” Danny shrieked.

Tucker laughed. “Nah. It's only been a couple hours.”

Danny flopped back down and threw an arm over his face.

“Knock it off, Tucker. This is the second time today your carelessness almost got him killed.”

“Me? I almost got him killed? The only reason this happened is because you had to be unique. You had to take the meat away! And I'm going to get it back!”

“You want to change that menu back? YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO GO THROUGH ME TO DO IT!”

The door slammed and Danny looked up to see he was alone. “Oh well. I'm sure everything will be back to normal by tomorrow,” he sighed.

Pleaded, really. He was more than ready to be done with this stupid fight.

He stayed laying for a moment then got up and went to where his friends had left his bag. He smiled as he saw copies of the notes for the two classes he’d practically slept through with his stuff. He started pulling out books to get to work on his homework when a knock sounded at the door.

“Danny?”

“What’s up?”

The door opened and Jazz peaked in. “Dinner’s ready. I made spaghetti.”

“Thanks, Jazz,” he said, standing up. He frowned when he felt his binder shifting. He reached under his shirt to fix it only to stop when he saw his sister give him a look. He stuck his tongue out at her, but went to his closet to take off his binder. “What happened to your hair?”

She frowned and brushed her fingers through the choppy feathered ends. “Mom and Dad think I’m a ghost and attacked me with a vacuum cleaner. They’re downstairs trying to figure out why it didn’t work.”

“At least it wasn’t the foam this time,” Danny said as he finished up.

“They’re getting worse and worse,” she huffed and they headed down for dinner.

“They’re just excited that the portal’s finally working. They’ll calm down soon enough.”

“Dad has PhDs in mechanical and electrical engineering and masters in physics and chemistry while Mom has PhDs in biology, chemistry, and physics with a master in mechanical engineering. They’re geniuses! They should be doing so much more than hunting fictional creatures!”

“We don’t know that ghosts aren’t real,” Danny said, rubbing his neck. “I mean, the portal works, right? That has to mean something.”

“A portal? They’ve got a hole in the wall that spits out green mist and electrocutes you.” Jazz flinched and gave him an apologetic look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

He shrugged and fiddled with his bandages. “It’s fine.”

“I just meant, the _portal_ doesn’t mean ghosts are real. You shouldn’t encourage them.”

“I’m just keeping an open mind.”

Jazz tutted, but otherwise kept quiet. When they reached the first floor, she went to start plating up food while Danny went to the door to the lab.

“Dinner’s ready.”

Loud footsteps could immediately be heard and Danny backed away as his dad came running into the kitchen. “Spaghetti! You made meatballs, right?”

“Right here, Dad,” Jazz said, grabbing the pot.

His dad eyed her wearily for a moment then said, “If you _are_ Jazzie-pants, you’re the best!”

She threw her hands in the air.

He pressed a kiss to her head then grabbed his plate and loaded it up with meatballs.

“How was your nap, honey?” Danny’s mom asked as she came into the room and wrapped an arm around Danny. “Are you alright? You’ve never passed out like that.”

“I’m fine, I was just tired. I’m all good now.”

“Did you take your binder off?”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Did you do your homework?”

“I was working on it when Jazz called me down.”

“Alright, let me know if you need help with anything.”

“I know, Mom.”

She ruffled his hair then went over to keep his dad from taking all the meatballs.

* * *

Danny glared at nothing in particular as his friends yelled to their respective crowds from atop their respective stages.

_I’d say kill me now, but it’s too late for that._

He considered calling his mom to see if she’d let him stay home. Maybe he could say he felt like he was going to pass out again.

Sam was to his right, standing atop a school bus surrounded by people waving signs with various pro-vegan and vegetarian sayings scrawled across them. Tucker was to his left, standing atop a popup stage with women dressed like sausage links while a crowd of people wondered about barbeque stands and food trucks.

Eventually, the two noticed him and rushed over.

“You guys put together two protests in one night?” he said, looking between them.

“Meat-eaters, Danny. Always ready to fight. And our high-protein diets give us the energy we need to do it quickly.”

“Vegans are always ready to protest. And because we don't have to waste time cooking our food, we can move even faster.”

“Don't you guys think this is a little extreme?”

“No choice, buddy. You're either with me!”

“Or you're against him!”

Danny ducked his head as they both shouted, “So whose side are you on?”

Suddenly the wind picked up in the schoolyard and laughter echoed around them as Danny’s ghost sense went off. Meat started flying away from the stands and trucks, swirling together into the largest meat monster yet.

“It's lunchtime!” the ghost shouted as both crowds started fleeing.

“Meat! Why have you betrayed me?” Tucker wailed.

Sam looked like she was going to say something so Danny grabbed them both and dragged them over to a tree. “That’s it! This is _the last time_ you two are having this argument, got it?”

They opened their mouths.

“No! I don’t care if you don’t like meat or you only like meat! You’re both going to lay off each other! You don’t have to like each other's diets, you just have to keep your mouths shut and ignore it! You guys are my best friends, but I _can not_ do this anymore! Please!”

They stared at him, shocked, as he broke down slightly at the end before slowly nodding.

“Okay, Danny.”

“Yeah, Dude. We didn’t… mean to upset you.”

“We’re sorry.”

“Really sorry.”

“Great. Wonderful.” He glanced around to be sure no one was paying attention. “Then it's time to make up. Now!”

They wrapped their arms around each other with him in the middle to hide the flash from his transformation and he turned invisible as they let go, shooting into the air.

* * *

Jazz scowled at the sky as the net she was in was dragged across the ground. Why was she cursed with a family like hers? All she wanted was to finish school, get a degree in psychology, and have a normal life. Was that too much to ask for?

“And the Fenton Grappler is working like a charm!” she heard her father say as she got closer.

“I don't understand. If Jazz is a ghost, why hasn’t she phased through the net?” her mother asked.

Jazz growled as the net came to a stop and stood up. As she pulled the net off, she shouted, “Because I am not a ghost! You've ambushed me, suffocated me with smoke, and worse, your stupid invention got Danny _electrocuted!_ What do you have to say for yourselves?”

Her father held an open thermos in her face. “Eat hot Fenton Thermos, ghost gal!”

A few sparks popped out, but nothing more happened.

Jazz glared at her parents and her father frowned down at the thing. He gave it a shake and hummed. “Darn thing still doesn't work!”

Jazz crossed her arms.

Her father looked up at her and after a moment he smiled. He looked down at the thermos sadly. “I, Jack Fenton, from this day forth, do hereby turn my back on ghosts.”

Jazz’s eyes widened and her mother set her hand on his shoulder.

He held up the thermos. “And this Thermos can't trap ghosts because ghosts don't exist.”

He threw it then turned away, bowing his head.

Jazz gaped as her mother wrapped an arm around his and rubbed his back. “Jack.”

“No, she’s right. What have we been doing with our life?”

 _She’s right? She’s right!_ Jazz threw her hands in the air and did a spin. FINALLY! She had gotten through to them! Now maybe -

“Thanks for the thermos! ”

“HA! Ghost kid! I was right!”

_What?_

Jazz turned back to her parents to see they were both excited.

“You were wrong! Ghosts exist!” her father sing-songed before laughing. “I never doubted for a second!”

 _What? No! They’d been so close!_ Jazz hissed in her head, tugging at her hair. _What just happened? Are they really_ that _delusional?_

“Come on, Maddie! Let’s go get that ghost kid!”

Jazz watched them both run off, her father pulling out a machine from one of the many pockets on his belt.

* * *

Danny’s eyes widened as the mini meat monsters the ghost had made to fight him reformed from the kick he’d used to destroy them. “Come on, can’t you cocktail weenies just stay down so this can be over?”

The rings passed over him to return him to human and Danny flinched.

The monsters smirked and grabbed him, flying into the air. Once they were high over the school, the ones holding his arms let go, letting him swing upside down.

He yelped and tried to grab at them to right himself, but they floated out of reach.

Suddenly something smacked his face and he grabbed it on instinct. He held it out and smiled. The Fenton Thermos! Finally, a way he could get the ghost back to the portal! But how to get it to work?

His eyes widened as he felt the grips on his legs loosened and looked up to see the monsters grinning.

They let go.

Danny looked down to see the ground fast approaching. “Change back! CHANGE BACK!”

His energy flared back up and the rings passed over him.

He cheered and turned intangible. He shot his parents a smile as he fell through the ground in front of them. “Thanks for the thermos!”

He twisted under the ground and came up on the other side of the school where the ghost -- the Lunch Lady? -- waited. As he did, an idea occurred to him.

She glared at the thermos. “NO! Soup's not on today's menu!”

“I'm changing the menu, permanently!” he grabbed the lid of the thermos and whispered, “Please work.”

He aimed the thermos at her and closed his eyes. He pushed his energy into the thermos, focusing it towards the thermos’s battery. Maybe a ghost trap needed ghostly energy to function? He felt his energy sink into the device and get drawn in as the thermos hummed to life in his hands. A blast of blue light shot at the Lunch Lady and drew her in like a tractor beam.

“No!” she screamed, trying to break free, but she soon disappeared inside.

Danny sighed with relief as he lost his hold on his ghost form. He felt drained, but closed the thermos with a smile. He went over to where Same and Tucker were hiding underneath decorations from Tucker’s half of the protest and helped them up.

“What happened? Where's the ghost?” Sam asked.

He held up the thermos. “My parents have their moments.”

Some beeping sounded and the three turned to see Danny’s parents running up.

_“Ghost directly ahead.”_

Danny flinched and hid the thermos behind his back.

 _“You would have to be some sort of moron to not notice the ghost directly ahead,”_ the Fenton Finder announced as they stopped in front of Danny.

His parents looked up at him and he gave them an awkward smile. He pointed over his shoulder. “Oh, sorry, Dad. You just missed him.”

“We got a runner!” his dad cheered and they took off.

Which allowed him to see Jazz glaring him down with crossed arms.

“Uh -”

“What did I say about encouraging them?”

“But -”

“Now they're back to square one!”

“Jazz!” Danny called, but his sister ignored him as she marched off.

“So, you're not gonna tell them?” Tucker asked, watching Danny’s parents disappear down the street.

Danny watched Jazz for a moment longer then turned to his friends. “Nah. I think I might've finally figured out what these powers are for. They make me able to help and protect people. To do some good.”

“They make you a hero,” Sam said.

“Well, with great pow-”

Danny threw a sausage at the tech geek.

All three of their phones went off and they pulled them out.

“School’s canceled for the next few days,” Sam said.

“Apparently people think there was a gas leak,” Tucker snorted. “One that’s giving people hallucinations.”

“Those were some painful hallucinations,” Danny joked, rubbing his shoulder.

“So we’ve got a few free days until they get this cleaned up and realize there isn’t any gas. You know what that means?”

“Movies, sleepovers, and Nasty Burger?” Danny suggested.

“No homework!” Tucker cheered.

The boys high-fived and the three set off.

“Do you guys want to stop by the mall before heading to one of our places?” Tucker asked. “We can look for something to wear to Spring Formal.”

“Why? It’s not like any of us are going,” Sam snorted.

“You don’t know that yet,” Danny objected. “We might get dates.”

Sam stared at him for a moment then shrugged. “Fine, whatever. If you two want to waste our time looking at clothes far be it for me to stop you.”

Danny’s nose scrunched up while Tucker cheered.

“I’m thinking green.”

“Maybe think again,” Sam snorted.

“What about you then?”

She shook her head. “I’m not going so I don’t need one.”

Danny frowned. “If you don’t want to go…”

She shrugged. “Who’s going to take pictures of you guys trying on horrible suits if you go on your own? That’d be a wasted blackmail opportunity.”

They both glared at her.

* * *

“I’m home,” Danny called as he shut and locked the door.

“Hey, sweetie,” his mom said. She stepped out of the kitchen with a spatula in hand. “Dinner’s almost ready.”

He froze. “You, uh, made dinner?”

“Jazz said she was going to be late so I thought I’d take care of dinner for her. How was shopping?”

“Okay, I guess. Tucker found a suit he liked, but none of them really fit me right.”

She nodded and came over to kiss the top of his head. “We’ll take you to the tailor in a few days. What about Sam?”

“I thought I saw her eyeing this black and purple dress in the window of Edgy On Purpose, but she says she’s not going so she’s not getting a dress.”

“That’s a shame.”

He shrugged.

“You ate lunch, right?”

“Yes, Mom,” he said, rolling his eyes. “We got Nasty Burger on the way to Tucker’s.”

“That’s good. I meant to call after we got your message about school, but we lost the ghost kid and your father wanted to come back and try and boost the power of the Fenton Finder.”

“It’s fine.” He considered something as he adjusted his backpack, the thermos inside bumping against his back. “Hey, Mom, I was wondering… You know how you infuse your inventions with ectoplasm? Have you ever considered, you know, powering them with ectoplasm too?”

She laughed and ruffled his hair. “Of course, honey, but the amount of condensed ectoplasm we’d need…” she trailed off, her eyes widening. “Though, with the portal now active, it would be easier to collect pure ectoplasm. Maybe… Jack! JACK!”

Danny chuckled as his mom ran off, muttering calculations and yelling for his dad. He stepped into the kitchen and froze.

A small army of cooked shrimp glared at him.

“MOM! DINNER CAME ALIVE AGAIN!”


	5. Parental Bonding: Courtship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S01-E02, part 1 of 2: Danny figures out a new power, gets a date, and lands himself in trouble. Not in that order.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning: Implied/Referenced Sibling Abuse (Not onscreen, skip to the bottom for a full description)**

Danny came down the stairs, ready to send the annoying Box Ghost back where he came from then spend the next few hours trying to block out what happened at lunch with some mindless video game violence. He paused when he spotted his dad sitting in front of the portal with a fishing rod in hand. He was wearing his fishing vest and had a soda guzzler attached to his fishing hat, sucking at the straw as he watched the swirling green mists.

The half-ghost frowned and tossed his backpack off to the side. “Hey, Dad. What are you doing?”

“Danny, keep it down. You'll scare away the ghosts,” he whispered. He pointed at the rod and Danny realized the line was glowing. “It's the Fenton Ghost Fisher. I'm fishing for ghosts. Check out this line. Coated with a special high-tensile ectoplasmic resin that ghosts can't break.” He focused back on the portal. “Quiet now. Don't wanna spook 'em.”

Danny nodded and turned to leave. He’d have to get rid of Boxy later.

“Whoa! That soda goes right through you like Sherman through Georgia.” His dad suddenly grabbed his shoulder and shoved the rod into his hands. “Here! Hang on to this. I'll be right back after I use the Fenton Urinal.”

 _Did not need to know that,_ Danny sighed. Well, at least now he could -

The line started pulling and he scrambled for the reel. The line went taut, then slack.

“Oh no,” he muttered, his breath misting in front of him.

A large claw emerged from the portal, then another. They hooked around the edge as a reptilian snout poked through. It seemed to squeeze through the too-small space as it lengthened and grew into the head of a dragon, electric blue with neon green ear fins and curled horns. It kept coming. First, a barrel chest and wings that didn’t look big enough to carry its weight -- though Danny was pretty sure a ghost dragon didn’t actually need wings to fly -- then forelegs, hind legs, and finally a whip-like tail.

It’s red eyes glared down at him, the end of the fisher caught in its mouth.

Danny flinched back, then his eyes caught on a glimpse of green in the corner of his eye. He looked down and frowned when he realized the dragon’s scales were littered with glowing soot and quite a few claw marks cut into its flesh, dripping ectoplasm that fizzled into nothing before it hit the floor.

“Woah, what attacked you?”

The dragon roared and Danny scrambled back. “I want to go!” it growled, grabbing him in its foreclaw. “I have to go!”

“You'll have to stand in line behind my dad,” Danny joked, then immediately wondered if ghosts could use the bathroom.

Did full ghosts need to eat? Would they eat normal food or ectoplasmic stuff? Would ghost food be closer to his parents' cooking? Did ghosts accidentally bring _their_ food to life?

 _No, focus, Danny!_ “In the meantime…”

He let his transformation wash over him, then let go of his density, becoming a cloud of ectoplasm that slipped through its grip. It tried to claw at him and he dodged around the hits, then pulled back when it started to breathe fire. He arced around the spray then landed a hit to its neck, right on the golden band of the necklace it wore.

It gave a pained roar as it flew back and hit the wall.

Danny flew closer, ready to shove it back into the portal, but it suddenly began to shimmer. It shrunk until it took the form of a young woman. She looked to be in much better health than her dragon form, though there was a darker patch on her green cheek that might have been a burn. The ghost looked up at him with tears in her eyes. “All I wanted was to go to the Princess Costume Ball. And my brother won't let me!”

She started crying and flew into the portal.

Frowning, Danny dropped to the ground and grabbed the fisher. “I hope her brother wasn’t the one that did that to her.”

Footsteps sounded on the stairs and Danny quickly changed back.

His dad came down, new soda cans in hand. “Catch anything?”

“Nope,” he lied and passed his dad the fisher. “I’m going to drop my backpack off in my room then I’m meeting Tucker online for a boss battle.”

“Homework?”

“None today.”

“Alright. Don’t forget, it’s your night for dinner. Jazz has that Debate meeting and your mom won’t be back until Friday.”

“I know. Pizza’s in the oven and timer’s set.”

“Good boy.”

* * *

“Thanks to you, I now know the quickest way to a woman's heart: clean boxers,” Tucker joked as he shut his locker.

Danny glared at him then dropped his head. “Man, are you ever going to let that go. I get it, I blew it yesterday.”

_Danny sent Sam a scared look, then walked up to the tree Paulina Sanchez was sitting in front of. He tried to lean against the tree and give his crush a smile like the guys on Tucker’s teen dramas, but his hand turned intangible and he ended up falling to the ground._

_“Please! Don't say you've suddenly fallen for me,” the popular girl said in a bored voice, not even looking at him. “That line is so last semester.”_

_Danny blushed and stood up. “Yeah! I-I mean, no! Th-that's not it. I, uh, I was wondering…”_

_Suddenly his legs felt cold and the people around them started laughing. His blush grew as he looked down to realize his jeans had fallen to the ground. He scrambled to pick them up as Paulina finally looked at him, only to giggle into her hand._

_At least it was boxer day, the last thing he needed was to accidentally be outed by his stupid powers on top of everything else._

_“A gentleman usually tips his hat, but I'll give you points for originality,” Paulina said._

_Suddenly Sam was at his side, her hand on his arm. “Kudos, Danny. You just set an all-time speed record for drowning in the shallow end of the gene pool.”_

_Paulina stared at her for a moment, then scowled. “Oh, no! You did not just call me shallow, did you?”_

_“If you mean do I think I can stand in a puddle full of you and not get my feet wet, then yeah.”_

_“Shallow? I am not shallow!”_

_Sam tugged him away from the girl, muttering, “As shallow as a drop of water. Ignore her, Danny. You can do so much better.”_

_Danny glanced over his shoulder to see the popular glaring at them._

“Paulina probably won't even look at me now.”

“Yoo-hoo, Danny!” Danny turned to see the girl they were discussing walking towards them, a flirty smile on her face.

“Or not! Hey, Tuck?”

“I get it. I'm out. Good luck.” He gave Danny a pat on the back then he was gone.

“Hi, you,” she giggled. “I just wanted to -”

Danny’s world went dark and cramped as he was suddenly shoved into his locker, which closed behind him.

“That’s for throwing your lunch on me last week, runt.”

“It was your lunch and it was an accident,” Danny growled.

“Oh hey, Paulina. Just the girl I was looking for.”

Danny glared at the wall of his locker then turned invisible and intangible. He leaned out of the locker to see Dash smirking down at Paulina, who didn’t look impressed.

“So I was thinking… I’m the top man. All-star quarterback and school hero.”

Danny reached towards the larger boy, ready to pull some ghostly prank, only for his hands to sink through Dash. His eyes widened as he felt his powers draw him in.

“You’re the prettiest girl in school.”

He felt himself shrink infinitesimally small, then expand like a balloon to fit a space that wasn’t quite right.

“It would only make sense if we -”

Danny blinked as he found himself in front of Paulina. He looked down at himself to see he was wearing a letterman's jacket and his arms were bulging with muscles. His eyes widened as he realized he was in Dash’s body.

_Wow, a whole new kind of dysphoria._

_Thanks, I hate it._

“Hello?” Paulina said, waving her hand in front of his face.

“Oh! Right! Of course!”

Paulina raised an eyebrow.

“I just wanted to tell you that I’m not going to be at the Spring Formal because I’ve got to scrub my mom’s feet that night. I usually do it every night, but she’s going to need some extra time that night. She’s got these massive bunions, you know. Want to see?”

“Eew! Get lost, loser!”

Danny turned and took a few steps, then pulled back his power. Thankfully he dropped out of Dash as he’d hoped and he was able to slip back into his locker just before Paulina opened it to let him out.

“Why do I suddenly feel like scrubbing my mom's feet?” he heard Dash mutter as Danny smiled at the girl.

He tried to step out of his locker, only to fall on his face.

He waited for Paulina to start laughing at him, but instead, she knelt next to him and winked.

“We have to stop meeting like this.” Her eyes widened and she grabbed something that was hanging out of his backpack. “Oh my gosh! What's that?”

Danny sat up and saw she was holding a necklace. It was gold with a short, almost choker-length band and held a smooth green gem that had a dark band down the center. It looked vaguely familiar, but Danny couldn’t place it. “That? Oh! Uh, it's a, uh…” He looked up at her face to see her staring at the necklace, entranced. “You like it?”

“It's beautiful!”

“Hey, that's great!” As they stood up, Danny had a very bad idea. “Because I, uh, got it for you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I-I-In case I got the nerve to ask you to the Spring Formal and you said yes, I thought I'd want to give you something and that's what it would have been. It's for you.”

Danny felt his powers activate and grabbed his pants before they could slip down more than an inch.

“Whether you go with me or not.”

Paulina eyed him with a teasing smile. “Well, you are kind of cute, and you have great taste in underwear. I'd love to go with you.”

She turned away, slipping on the necklace.

He gave a happy sigh, then frowned. “What am I doing? That thing doesn't belong to me. It could be my mom's, or Jazz's.”

“Bye, Danny. See you!”

“Or I could worry about that later. Because she said yes! Woohoo!” He threw his hands up, remembering his pants a second too late.

“Pantless again, Mr. Fenton?” Mr. Lancer asked, walking up behind him.

* * *

“Catch anything, Dad?” Danny asked as he shuffled up behind where his dad was once more in his fishing chair, Fenton Ghost Fisher in hand.

“Son, I couldn't catch a cold. I've been sitting here all day without a single bite.”

Danny hummed and looked down at the slip Lancer had given him. Apparently having your pants accidentally fall down twice was an offense worthy of having your parents called in so now his dad needed to meet with Mr. Lancer in an hour. Well, at least there was only one parent home to get mad.

He took a deep and held up the slip. “Da-”

“I'm so frustrated I want to take out my rage on the first person who gives me bad news.” His dad adjusted his line with a growl. “Anyway, you wanted to tell me something?”

Danny flinched. “Well, sort of. Mr. Lancer -”

His dad stiffened. “Mr. Lancer what? Is this bad news?”

“Mr. Lancer -” An idea hit him and he smirked. He turned intangible and dove into his dad. “- wants to have a word with us!”

* * *

**Pan_Fried69:** Are you out yet

 **Pan_Fried69:** How’d it go are you grounded

 **EcoAce13:** I still can’t believe lancer got on you for your pants. How is that your fault!? It’s not like you pulled them down!

 **Transplanetary:** I’m out. Didn’t get in trouble

 **Pan_Fried69:** Sweet

 **Pan_Fried69:** How’s you manage that

 **Transplanetary:** New problem tho

 **Transplanetary:** MY DAD convinced lancer it was because I don’t eat enough and he actually bought it

 **EcoAce13:** What new problem?

 **EcoAce13:** Wait. Danny, tell me you didn’t!!!!!!

 **Pan_Fried69:** Didn’t what

 **Transplanetary:** Mayhaps

 **EcoAce13:** DANNY!!!!!!

 **Pan_Fried69:** What’d he do

 **Transplanetary:** I might have possessed my dad a little

 **Transplanetary:** And by a little I mean for the whole meeting so he doesn’t even know it happened

 **Pan_Fried69:** Nice!!!

 **Pan_Fried69:** Can you do that to my dad the next time I get in trouble

 **Pan_Fried69:** Better yet can you get me a date

 **EcoAce13:** No, not nice! You can’t just take a persons Drew I’ll away from than!

 **Transplanetary:** Forget it. You can get your own date for the dance like I did

 **Pan_Fried69:** Drew I’ll?

 **EcoAce13:** Free will. Wtf autocorrect?

 **Transplanetary:** Drew I’ll

 **Transplanetary:** And trust me I’m paying for it

 **Pan_Fried69:** What happened

 **Transplanetary:** Lancer asked Dad to chaperon the dance and would take no for an answer

 **Transplanetary:** *wouldnt

 **Pan_Fried69:** Guys problema giant ghost dragon at mall!!!!!

 **Transplanetary:** OMW

 **EcoAce13:** Why are you at the mall?

 **Pan_Fried69:** All the hot people are here

 **Pan_Fried69:** There’s a big sale at Abyss and some football star is signing stuff at Sports Victors

 **Pan_Fried69:** Danny’s fighting the ghost

 **EcoAce13:** So you mean all the brain dead people are there.

 **EcoAce13:** How’s he doing?

 **Pan_Fried69:** He just got knocked into weenie on a skewer

 **Pan_Fried69:** Then calles himself a weenie

 **EcoAce13:** Figures, the idiot.

 **Pan_Fried69:** At least he’s got a date unlike us

 **EcoAce13:** Maybe if I was as pretty as PAULINA. 🙄

 **Pan_Fried69:** The ghost just disappeared

 **Transplanetary:** I don’t know where it went, but that’s the second time I’ve fought it. We need to investigate

 **EcoAce13:** Are you okay?

 **Transplanetary:** Also why are you so down on Paulina? So she’s pretty, it’s not a crime

 **Transplanetary:** I’m fine

 **EcoAce13:** Looks are de icing, Danny.

 **EcoAce13:** *deceiving

 **Pan_Fried69:** Great now if only I could get a date

 **Pan_Fried69:** Well then

 **Pan_Fried69:** Apparently the dragon and Danny were a prank using smoke and a projector

 **EcoAce13:** You’ve got to be kidding me

 **Pan_Fried69:** They just made an announcement ove the intercom

 **Transplanetary:** Trust me people will make as many excuses as possible to avoid admitting ghosts are real

 **Pan_Fried69:** How would projections even do all that stuff

 **Transplanetary:** No clue

* * *

_The Amulets of Aragon_

_The Amulets come from a Spanish tale about a noble family residing within the medieval Kingdom of Aragon who attempted to usurp the King. Wanting the crown for himself, the lord asked his sister to use witchcraft to create two amulets that would allow them to transform themselves into powerful dragons. The king learned what was to happen and had his knights storm the lord’s manor. The knights captured the lord and lady before the amulets could be completed and the two were burned as witches._

_The King’s victory was short-lived, however, as the two nobels returned as vengeful spirits. What they failed in life, they accomplished in death as upon their necks were the amulets the brother had longed for. Together the spirits burned the king’s castle to the ground in a storm of blue and green flames._

_The legend goes on to say that any who stole the amulets from the lord or lady could gain their power, but they would have no control over it. They would be captives to their distress or anger and lash out blindly._

“Are you sure this is what we’re looking for?” Tucker asked, looking over the webpage. “Just sounds like some fairytale.”

 _“No, I think she’s onto something, look at the pictures,”_ Danny said and Tucker opened the gallery.

The first few pictures were medieval art of similar-looking black and purple dragons; though none seemed to be able to agree if it had bat or bird-like wings, scales or feathers, two or four legs, and ears or horns. Those were followed by more dragons, these blue and green. These were just as mismatched, but even then…

“Okay, the blue one kind of looks like your ghost dragon.”

 _“And Danny said the ghost looked medieval and mentioned her brother right?”_ Sam pointed out.

 _“Huh, that's the amulet I gave to Paulina. It must have accidentally fallen into my backpack. Wait. You mean… I'm going on a date with a dragon?”_ Danny gasped.

Tucker scrolled down to see pictures of the amulets. The stone settings looked the same, though one was on a long chain while the other had a collar band. The latter looked just like the necklace Paulina had been wearing the past two days.

Sam gave a snort. _“Like I said, looks are deceiving. I'm sure you two will have a wonderful evening at the dance.”_

 _“Thanks,”_ Danny deadpanned.

Suddenly Danny sent him a text.

Tucker gave his friend a confused look, but opened it.

 **👻Boo Boy:** She really wants to go to the dance

 **Me:** But she says she doesn’t want to

 **👻Boo Boy:** Were her best friends

 _“What are you going to do to stop her?”_ Sam asked.

 **👻Boo Boy:** We should have known

 **Me:** Well there’s nothing we can do about it now right

“There’s no way you can just ask for the necklace back,” Tucker said, “not without a good reason.”

 **Me:** Right

 **Me:** Danny

When Danny didn’t reply, Tucker looked up at the video chat.

Danny was giving him a smirk.

 **Me:** No way forget it ABSOLUTELY NOT NO

 _“Maybe I can say it’s a family heirloom?”_ Danny suggested.

 **👻Boo Boy:** Tuck

 **Me:** I just found out Kwan bailed on Valerie

 **Me:** VALERIE

 **Me:** She’s like a luster adjacent

 _“But then why would you have given it away?"_ Sam said.

 **Me:** If I act fast I can catch her on the rebound

 **👻Boo Boy:** Come on Tuck

 **Me:** You come on

 **Me:** Why don’t you just take her

 _“I don’t know! Ugh!”_ Danny groaned.

 **👻Boo Boy:** What part of “going on a date with a dragon” didn’t you get? Paulinas likely to scorch the town if I bail on her

 **Me:** Plus it’s Paulina

 **👻Boo Boy:** I mean yeah that too but that’s not what’s important right now

 **Me:** Uh huh 🤔

 **👻Boo Boy:** I’m serious Tuck

 **👻Boo Boy:** Do it for Sam

Tucker tried to give Danny an annoyed look, only to find his friend giving him puppy eyes.

 _Abort! Abort!_ He tried to look away, but it was too late.

 **Me:** This is so unfair!!!!!!!

Danny smiled quickly then glanced over his shoulder. _“Oh, I think I hear Jazz calling me. We can talk more later. See you guys!”_

And he was gone.

 _“Well bye,”_ Sam said, rolling her eyes. _“I should probably go too.”_

“Wait, Sam,” he called before she could end the call. He glanced down at his phone, Valerie’s twitter still open on the app’s tab, and sighed. “I was wondering since neither of us have dates, do you want to go as friends? It’d be better than just sitting around at home. Plus, we can make fun of Danny and his dragon date.”

Sam frowned and glanced to the side. _“Uh, I don't know. This is so last minute. And I do have plans, and -”_

Tucker perked up. “If you don’t want to -”

 _“Okay, but only because you couldn’t get a date. Might as well put that lame dress my parents bought me to use. Tell Danny I’ll take care of transportation for us four. I need to make some appointments. See you tomorrow!”_ Sam said quickly before she ended the call.

Tucker blinked then slumped back with a groan. He closed Twitter and texted Danny.

 **Me:** Sam’s parents are driving us to the dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had fun with the trio's chat names and Danny's contact (though thanks to FF I couldn't include the ghost emoji in Danny's contact here). I'm still unsure about Sam's chat name, but the next best idea I had was AsexuWhale and a pun like that didn't feel right for her.
> 
>  **Warning Description:** Dora is described as being beaten up and it's hinted that her brother was the one who did it. It's rather minor, but I felt it necessary to list just in case.


	6. Parental Bonding: Chivalry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> S01-E02, part 2 of 2: Trying to keep his dad from embarrassing him while facing off against a teenage girl in dragon form keeps Danny on his toes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late posting. I had to take my mom to the doctor's yesterday and didn't get a chance to post until it was too late. Next chapter should be on time as usual.

“I don't understand why I have to wear this stupid thing,” Danny’s dad complained as his mom adjusted his tie.

The two were standing in the kitchen preparing for the Spring Formal. His dad was in his normal hazmat suit, though with a tie around his neck while his mom wore a black dress. Jazz stood nearby in her own dress, checking her purse. Danny was next to her, tugging at his own tie and occasionally glancing down at his phone.

“Because it's Danny's first big dance, Jack,” his mom answered. “If we're gonna chaperone this thing, we have to make sure we don't embarrass him.”

“How would we embarrass him?”

Jazz and Danny shared a quick look before their mom turned to them and came over to fix Danny’s tie as well.

“I think it's great when you guys do anything that doesn't have something to do with your sick obsession with ghosts,” Jazz said pointedly.

“Funny,” their dad said, eyes narrowed. “I don't even remember volunteering to chaperone the dance. It's all a vague blur.”

Danny’s shoulders crept up and he tried to push his mom’s hands away.

“By the way, Danny, just so you know, I'm on to your little secret.”

Danny jerked backward, nearly choking himself as his mom was still holding his tie. “What?! Wh-what secret?”

“The clumsiness, the nervousness. I can't believe I didn't figure it out before. You have a girlfriend!”

“I can expl-I-I mean, she's not my girlfriend. She's just going to the dance with me.”

“That's great!” their dad cheered, wrapping an arm around Jazz. “I can meet her and talk to her about ghosts!”

Jazz rolled her eyes and pushed his arm off so she could adjust her hair. “You better let her know your family's insane now, Danny. If you marry her and she finds out later, that's entrapment.”

The doorbell rang and Danny sighed with relief. “That’s Sam and Tucker. I’ll see you guys at the dance.”

Jazz took that as her opening and grabbed her purse. “I should get going too if I’m going to pick up Michelle and Robin in time.”

As Danny and Jazz slipped into the living room, he thought, _Okay, so I'm gonna have to keep Paulina calm and keep my dad from embarrassing me. I can handle that._

He patted where the Fenton Ghost Fisher was hidden inside his jacket in its collapsed form then opened the door.

“Mr. Fenton,” a man in a suit greeted him. “I’m Donald. I’ll be your driver tonight.”

“Uh…” Danny looked past the man to see a limo -- a luxury stretch limo -- parked at the curb. One of the windows was rolled down to show a waving Tucker. “Right, thanks.”

He glanced up at Jazz as he followed the driver to see her staring at the car, floored. The driver opened the door and Danny slipped inside.

“Dude.”

“I know!”

“I thought you said Sam’s parents were taking us.”

“I thought that’s what she meant. I didn’t think she was going shell out for a limo!”

“There are sodas and juice in the mini fridge,” Donald said as he got in and started the limo.

“It’s all included,” Tucker said, grabbing an open soda from his cup holder.

Danny glanced at Donald, who nodded in the mirror. He grabbed a clear soda just in case he spilled then slid over to sit next to Tucker.

“You ready for your dragon date?”

Danny elbowed a snickering Tucker with a glare. “I’ve got it handled.”

“Uh-huh, sure buddy.”

Danny elbowed him again and Tucker elbowed him back.

The two chuckled and shoved each other until they pulled up next to Paulina’s house.

“Good luck,” Tucker teased, patting Danny on the back as Donald opened the door for him.

Danny flipped him off then headed up to ring the doorbell.

_What to say? The heirloom idea is stupid. Maybe he could say it belonged to someone else? Someone like…_

The door opened and Danny looked up. And up.

He blanched as he looked up into the angry face of a tall, muscular man. Nervously, he said, “Uh, hi! Uh, you must be Paulina's dad.”

“If you upset her, we're going to have a violent talk,” the man said, punching his palm.

“Papa?”

Danny blushed as Paulina stepped out from behind her father. Her curly hair had been straightened and half pulled up with a large glittering clip that was a soft pink color to match her dress.

It made the gold and green collar stand out all the more.

She smiled at him. “You're scaring him. Come on, Danny. We're going to be late.”

“Have a wonderful evening, baby.” Her dad kissed her cheek, then gave Danny a death glare. “I know where you live.”

“And I'm glad we had a chance to chat,” he chuckled weakly as Paulina took his arm.

She gasped as they turned to the street. “You got a limo?”

“Yeah, well Sam did,” he said, opening the door for her. “I-I thought we could all go together.”

“Hey, Paulina,” Tucker said a little breathlessly.

“There are drinks in the fridge,” Danny added as he got in and she grabbed a sparkling water.

“It’s nice,” she said once they were on the road again. “Really nice. How did _she_ afford something like _this?_ ”

Danny frowned at her tone, but shrugged it off. “Her parents must have lent her the money.”

Paulina hummed disbelievingly.

He turned to Tucker, who clearly didn’t get it either. Yeah, it was a limo, but it couldn’t have been that expensive, right?

They pulled up to Sam’s house and Tucker got out, looking grouchy.

Danny focused on Paulina, giving her a smile. “You look really nice, by the way. I meant to say earlier, but your dad, uh…”

She chuckled and pat his hand. “That’s okay. I know I look nice, silly. It’s me!”

He nodded and glanced out the window.

His jaw dropped.

Sam stood on the stoop in the same black and purple gothic medieval dress that she’d been looking at when they’d gone shopping -- no way her parents bought that, he knew she wanted to come -- with artful dark purple makeup to match. Her hair was braided up her head then pulled into a flower-like bun on the top while roses had been shaved into the short side of her head.

She smiled at Tucker before pulling him down the steps.

A throat cleared behind Danny and he turned to see Paulina glaring at him. Her eyes were a bright red with slit pupils.

“S-sorry,” he said, raising his hands. “It’s just, uh, weird to see her all dressed up like that.”

“Your right,” she snorted. “She does look weird. What’s up with that dress?”

A frown tugged at his mouth, but her eyes had gone back to normal so he forced himself to keep smiling. “Right.”

* * *

Sam glanced around the gym thoughtfully. She was about to ask Tucker if he wanted to dance, just to give them something to do, when she spotted Paulina standing on her own. “Where’d Danny go?”

“What?” Tucker followed her gaze. “Maybe he went to get snacks?”

“Do you think it's safe to leave her alone.”

He smiled. “Well, I could always -”

“Tucker, Sam, we've got trouble.”

The two looked up to see Danny’s dad standing over them.

“We had nothing to do with it, Mr. Fenton. It was all Danny's idea.”

“Tucker, it's me. It's Danny,” their friend in his dad’s body huffed. “Sam, you need to keep an eye on Paulina. Text me if she starts looking angry. Tucker, watch my dad just in case I need to go deal with Paulina. If he starts talking to anyone, text me, got it?”

They both nodded and he left.

“This dance gets better and better with every passing minute,” Sam snorted and followed after Paulina.

It only took a few minutes before the popular girl started looking annoyed and Sam sent Danny a quick text before trailing after her into the bathroom. She hesitated in the doorway a moment before pasting on a smile and stepping in. “Hey, Paulina. I should have said before, but that's a nice dress.”

“Yes, and it goes so nicely with your necklace, don't you think?” the other girl asked, turning to her with a smirk.

Sam frowned. “My necklace? That's not my -- Right! Listen, my grandma gave me that, and -”

“Forget it, sweetie. I'm not giving up this trinket or your little boyfriend Danny.”

“My boyfriend?” Sam choked. “Haha! And they say pretty girls can't be funny. Danny is not my boyfriend.”

“He's not?”

Sam rolled her eyes. She and Danny had known each other since kindergarten. She’d slept beside him at a time when they could still share a room for sleepovers. She’d comforted him after he found out about his father. She’d been there when his family had gotten back from two years in California and he tried to convince the few middle school classmates they had that knew him in elementary school that he’d actually always been a boy and they were misremembering. She was the one to threaten those who didn’t buy it to keep quiet. She’d held his hand when he’d nearly begged their seventh grade English teacher to call him Danny, not Daniel, because it sounded too close to Danielle.

Sure he was cute -- especially when his hair fell into his face just right or when he and Tucker would let her put some makeup on them for Dumpty Humpty concerts -- and his ghost form was really sick looking, but they weren’t like _that._

“He's my _best friend._ Maybe that's why I was so hard on you. I didn't mean to call you shallow.”

Paulina laughed. “What a bummer! I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from you.”

Sam froze, barely noticing as Paulina took off the collar and put it on her. She had… She had… to DANNY? Danny, who was too sweet for his own good and…

“Here, take your crummy necklace. I'm going back inside to dump your dorky friend.”

Sam’s fists clenched as she felt a blazing heat flow through her. _How dare she? HOW DARE SHE!_

“Shallow little witch!” she roared and everything went black.

* * *

Danny was grabbing a couple glasses of punch when he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his dad’s pocket to see Sam had texted him.

 **🕷Sammy-kins :** Your dates ticked and heading to the bathroom.

 **Me:** OMW

He opened a new message and texted Tucker.

 **Me:** Going to deal with Paulina. Watch my dad

 **🎮TuckNo:** 👍🏾

He slipped out of his dad and grabbed his phone. Invisibly, he flew over the gym, heading for the bathrooms. He tucked his phone into the pocket inside his jacket.

He paused as its weight disappeared the moment his hand left it.

He reached back into the pocket and his eyes widened as his hand kept going. “Oh my god, it’s a literal pocket dimension!” he whispered, pulling his jacket open so he could look inside. He reached in again, this time purposefully trying to grab his phone.

He found it immediately.

“Oh man, wait until I tell Tucker! Also, note to self, stick a thermos in here, just in case.”

A roar sounded, just barely audible over the music, and Danny’s eyes widened. He dropped down behind a trash can near the bathroom and transformed back.

“Paulina? Sam?” he called into the bathroom. When no one answered, he checked that everyone was looking away then slipped inside.

His eyes widened as he saw the destroyed wall and ceiling. He grabbed the fisher out of his pocket and turned back into a ghost. Once the fisher was stored in his -- _Poltergeist Pocket? Pocket of Holding? Spectral Space? Yeah, that one!_ \-- Spectral Space, he flew out to see the blue dragon soaring over the football field. Eyes narrowing as he saw the form held in her claws, he shot towards her and kicked her to the ground.

“Take it easy, Paulina. You don't want to hurt Sam,” he said, landing in front of the dragon. He looked at the girl and frowned when he realized Sam wasn’t the hostage. “Paulina?” He turned to the dragon as she opened her eyes to glare at him. “Sam?”

“Shallow girl!” she roared, standing.

“Yep, that's Sam.” He rolled to the side to avoid her fire. “Whoa! Sam! Two words: breath mints.”

He flew up to free Paulina, but Sam’s tail slammed into them the moment he got her free. They were knocked towards the bleachers and Danny turned them intangible before they could hit. Instead, they landed in front of the fence, spooking a kissing couple into fleeing. Danny set down Paulina just as his phone went off.

 **🎮TuckNo:** Your dads heading towards lancer

Great, one short-term fix, coming up. Danny dove into the ground and came up behind the dragon. “I hate to do this, Sam.” He grabbed her tail then pulled her off the ground, swinging her around until he built up some force. He let her go and she flew off into the distance. “Heh, I made a **dragonfly**.” His eyes widened. “Oh, man. Dad!”

He bolted down into the gym and looked around. He spotted his dad standing over Mr. Lancer with a fierce glare and quickly dove into the jumpsuits man.

“Jack, this is Mr. Lancer from the parent-teacher conference,” his mom was saying, the second half in a whisper.

“Right, right. I'm sorry, it's just in this light I thought you were Vin Diesel. Isn't he sharp, Mom? I mean, Maddie,” Danny stuttered, trying to make his voice as low as possible.

He wasn’t sure if he was the only one who heard his normal voice, it seemed like it, but just in case.

“Well… Thank you,” Mr. Lancer chuckled.

“Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to dance with my wife. That's what we adults do, dance with our wives.” Danny grabbed his mom’s hand and led her onto the dance floor.

He briefly wondered if he should dance normally or like a parent, but then just danced like himself.

He _was_ trying to make sure his dad didn’t embarrass him, after all.

His mom sighed. “Doesn't this bring back memories?”

“If by memories you mean things you remember that I don't, then yes! Go ahead and remind me of stuff. I'll totally agree to remembering.” _Smooth._

The song ended and Danny blinked as his fellow students started cheering for him.

_Well, that’s one thing down._

He slipped out of his dad and flew back out of the gym.

Just in time, it seemed, as Sam was quickly approaching the school. He dove around the fireballs she shot at him and reached into his pocket. He brought out the fisher and extended it. He arced around another fireball as he swung the line towards her, catching it on one of the scales near her wing. Then he started circling her, dodging her tail and fire until he had her wings bound in the glowing wire.

As it turned out, ghost dragons did, in fact, need their wings to fly.

Or maybe it was just a mind thing? She did seem to hover for a few seconds and Danny stood by his assessment that those wings couldn’t support her weight on their own. If it was just a mental thing then -

_Focus!_

Sam dropped to the ground and Danny landed next to her neck. As soon as he pulled the necklace off, she shrunk down into herself. He stuck both the necklace and rewound fisher in his Spectral Space then ran up to Sam, transforming as he went. “Sam? Are you alright?”

“Wow,” Sam said, sitting up and holding her head like she had a headache. “Did I have fun at the dance?”

“Well, uh… Let's just say you had a roaring time.” She gave him a look and he blushed. “You somehow got the dragon necklace on you and, well, I think you can put the pieces together.”

“Paulina,” Sam growled.

“Yeah, sounded like she did something,” Danny said, helping her to her feet.

Sam opened her mouth, then closed it. She stared at him for a moment then shook her head. “Doesn’t matter. Come on, I think you owe me a dance.”

He smiled. “Sure, I'd love to.”

“Promise me you'll keep your pants up.”

“I'll do my best.”

* * *

“So how long until your parents get back?” Sam asked as Danny let them into his house.

“Mom said they had to stay until the end of the dance, so another half hour at least,” Danny said.

“I can’t believe I still ended up dateless,” Tucker huffed. “Couldn’t you have at least ditched Paulina in a way that left her open for me to swoop in for the rebound?”

“I didn’t ditch Paulina,” Danny denied.

“She ditched him,” Sam said.

“Yeah, when she came back into the gym to find you two dancing,” Tucker snorted. “She looked ready to breathe fire even without the amulet.”

“I didn’t see her,” Danny worried as he pushed open the door to the lab stairs. “Should we have waited for her? We were her ride.”

“Nah, she took off with Dash right after. Some A-lister afterparty. No worries,” Tucker said. “Anyways, what are you going to do about the amulet? Just chuck it through the portal?”

“I don’t know. I thought maybe -”

Danny paused and his friends leaned down to look over his shoulder.

Floating in the lab was a green-skinned ghost with long blonde hair and an electric blue medieval dress. She looked like she had been searching for something, but stopped when they came in.

“Uh, what are you doing?” Danny said, eyeing her and trying to push his friends back.

“My amulet! I must return with my amulet,” she wailed, tears in her eyes as she stood up from her crouched position. “But it’s nowhere to be found!”

Danny nodded. “You were the original dragon ghost, right? The one who wanted to go to the ball.”

She sniffled and nodded. “And you are the knight who fought me off.”

“Right.” Danny transformed and dug into his Spectral Space.

Danny didn’t see her eyes go wide, but Sam and Tucker did. “I thought I had imagined it,” they saw her whisper.

“Here,” Danny said, holding out the necklace. “You can take it, but only if you agree to go straight back where you came from. Deal?”

“Of course. I must return to my brother. I’ve been gone for far too long, but I needed my amulet.”

Danny hesitated. “Your brother, was he the one that hurt you?”

She took the necklace from him and put it on. “Thank you, Sir Knight.”

“It’s Danny. Uh, Danny… Phantom. You didn’t ans-”

“Thank you, Sir Phantom,” she said, giving a curtsy, then flew into the portal.

“I’m guessing that’s a yes,” Danny sighed. “I hope she’s okay.”

“She can turn into a giant dragon, I’m sure she’ll be fine,” Tucker said.

“Sure, except the legend says her brother can do the same,” Sam pointed out.

“Oh, yeah.”

The three watched the portal for a moment before Danny pulled the fisher out of his Spectral Space and tossed it on the table. “Come on, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go get changed and turn on some movies.”

They agreed and the three trudged upstairs, their earlier post-battle excitement lost.

“Danny Phantom?” Sam said.

“I panicked. Besides, it’s kind of a pun. Phantom, Fenton.”

“You're a ghost called ghost,” Tucker snorted.

“Shut up, I’ll come up with something better.”

“Nope.”

“You’re Danny Phantom now.”

“No takebacks.”

“I hate you both.”

“Love you too, dude.”


End file.
